Living with a children's author isn't as easy as it looks!

All the effort in the world won’t matter if you’re not inspired. Chuck Palahniuk

Experiences inspire ideas. Mom has completed her PiBoIdMo challenge with 35 inspired ideas for new stories.

Some of her ideas will become picture book manuscripts. Some will become poems. One of them might become the elusive Book #2 or eBook #2. Some of them stink so bad that they will stay in her phone and rot. But somewhere, somehow, all of them were inspired for a few minutes by an experience during the month of November.

At her author visits, students or teachers often ask Mom if she ever has writer’s block. She says, “Never.” That’s because as long as she has a list of ideas, even if one story gets stuck, there are a bunch of other stories just waiting to get started.

I was inspired last night, so I started playing the piano with my paws…

…and my face.

Mom came in to see what was inspiring me. Was I a genius and she was just finding out? No. Did I suddenly get skills that no dog in the world ever had? No. Would I play at Carnegie Hall and be famous? No. There was a fly in the house. And I wanted a closer look at it.

*Not actual fly

The fly disappeared after my concert, and later he met with an unfortunate end. Rest in peace, little fly. I think you would’ve been delicious.

I hope lots of the ideas were about you, Cupcake! And we think you are a virtuoso – if not bound for Carnegie Hall, at least your story will inspire others. Enjoy helping Mom turn those ideas into stories.

Cupcake – you play piano now? Wow…..even if chasing a fly was the inspiration for your piano concert, I think your Mom appreciated knowing that you have hidden talents. As for the fly and its’ unfortunate end? I usually provide the unfortunate end for flies around here….they are quite yummy. Tee Hee

You can play piano with your face? You are the carnivore Jerry Lee Lewis :o) I bet all of your mom’s ideas are great, Cupcake, even when some of them”stink” – that sometimes are the best! If you see a fly in your house in winter, you shold keep it as a pet, the superstition says, that’s the “money-fly” and brings good luck&wonga :o)

I think it is only an average people’s idea that inspiration comes from lofty, noble things. A genius can be inspired by anything. Yes, also by a tiny fly!
Your motto could be: “All the inspiration in the world won’t matter if you’re not a genius.”
I cannot wait to hear your first concert in the Carnegie Hall!

I think I lost you for a bit cupcake, I don’t get emails anymore and you hadn’t popped up on WP reader for a while so I assumed you hadn’t posted, but somehow I’d unfollowed you – sorry! I am now though and am backtracking.
Keep practicing the piano, perhaps another fly will appear, you can lull it to sleep and then pounce 🙂